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Welcome and choosing how to start

Pick the language for the setup pages, then start a new business on this server or restore one from a backup file.

For
Owner
Hosting
Any hosting
Devices
Web browser
Business
All businesses

Checked against Pop Dispatch 0.1.0

The Welcome step is the first page of setup. The office server serves it to your browser at the address /setup. You choose the language for the setup pages, then choose whether to start a new business on this server or restore one from a backup. Every later step saves as you go, so you can close the page and come back to the same place.

Before you start #

Open the setup page from the computer that runs the office server, or from another computer on the shop network. A computer other than the server asks for the setup code that the installer shows. The code is also printed in the server log. Have your licence key or trial key ready for the next step.

Steps #

The Welcome step of the setup wizard with the Language list, the two start choices Start new and Restore from a backup, and the Continue button, each marked with its step number.
The Welcome step. The numbers match the numbered steps below.
The Welcome step after choosing Restore from a backup, showing the Backup file chooser, the Recovery key box and the Restore this backup button.
Restoring from a backup asks for the backup file and the recovery key.
  1. Open the setup page in your browser. It opens at the Welcome step with the heading "Let's get your office server ready".
  2. Under Language, choose the language the setup pages use.
  3. Under "How do you want to start?", choose Start new to set up a new business on this server.
  4. Or choose Restore from a backup if the business was backed up before. The step asks for the Backup file (a file ending in .psdbackup) and the Recovery key written down when that business was set up. Select Restore this backup and keep the page open: the restore takes a few minutes and the page says "Backup restored." when it is done. Restoring from a file works from the computer the server runs on.
  5. After a restore, the page lists one command for each owner. Backups hold no passwords, so each owner runs that command on the server to get a new one-time password, then opens this address again and signs in.
  6. With Start new, select Continue to go to the next step, Your key.
Technical details
  • The setup pages are served by the office server at /setup. A browser on another computer must enter the setup code first.
  • Each step saves on the server as soon as it is confirmed, so closing the page and reopening it resumes at the same step.
  • Once the owner account exists, setup asks anyone who is signed out to sign in again. See the Owner account step.
  • The wizard sends the file to POST /setup/restore and the recovery key in the X-Recovery-Key header. The server checks the file and the key first, unpacks into a staging folder, checks every file hash and row count, and only then swaps the files in. What was replaced is kept in a replaced- folder in the data folder.
  • The restore route answers only to a browser on the computer the server runs on, and only while the server holds no business. From another computer, or on a server that has a business, stop the server and run dispatch-server restore followed by the backup file.

If something goes wrong #

  • "This page could not reach the office server." Check that the server is running, then try the page again.
  • The page asks for a setup code. Type the setup code that the installer shows, or copy it from the server log.
  • The restore says the recovery key is wrong. Check the key against the one written down for the computer the backup came from.
  • The restore says the file is damaged or newer than this version. Pick another backup file, or update the server first.
  • The restore is refused from another computer. Open the setup page on the server computer, or use dispatch-server restore there.